Natural highs have been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. I remember riding waves on my boogie board when I was seven years old, and it was the greatest feeling in the whole world. I also recall making the game-winning catch as an outfielder during a little league baseball game, and I felt an incredible rush of positive emotions that got me really high on life.

As a grew older, I started using drugs and alcohol to get high, and eventually, they became the only way I could feel any sort of pleasure in life. Fortunately, I’ve outgrown those old behaviors, and I’ve returned to using natural ways to get high.

Types of Natural Highs

I love how much variety comes with natural highs. From skydiving at incredible speeds towards the Earth to sitting completely still in meditation, there is truly an infinite number of ways one can get high. There are physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional highs. The best highs are ones that include all four of these elements. The following list of natural highs is the result of my personal experiences, combined with some great suggestions from my Facebook friends. Enjoy!

1. Breath Empowerment and 9-Breath Method

The absolute highest I’ve ever been (with or without drugs) was during my first Breath Empowerment. I was lying on my yoga mat while a Canadian woman guided me and 300 other people through a 45-minute breathing exercise that left me feeling TRUE BLISS.  I was so high and blissed out that I was sweating, I had tears of happiness pouring out of my eyes, and I felt a complete connection with the Universe. All of my energy blockages and chakras were wide open, and energy was rushing through my meridians one thousand miles per hour.

Later that weekend I learned the 9-Breath Method, which only takes a minute or two to feel super blissed out and high naturally. It wasn’t as powerful as the Breath Empowerment, which in my experience felt like a natural form of the drug called “ecstasy”, but it was still incredible. You can do the Breath Empowerment from the comfort of your own home by listening to the Breath Empowerment Guided Meditation CD.

2. Surfing

Do you ever wonder why surfers love riding waves so much? There are actually a lot of chemical reactions that are taking place, which get you high naturally, and also make surfing incredibly addictive. Surfing creates a cocktail of feel-good chemicals in the brain. The activity of riding waves increases adrenaline and norepinephrine because it’s a rush, and you must also focus or you’ll wipe out! Surfing increases dopamine, the pleasure neurotransmitter because you’re doing something you enjoy.

It’s an especially good muscular and cardiovascular workout, which increases endorphins, the brain’s natural painkillers. The negative ions produced by the water molecules splitting when the waves crash produce an increase in serotonin, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel emotionally relaxed. Finally, the sunlight and ozone help to improve your mood as well.

3. Exercising in Nature

Of course, surfing isn’t the only way to get high from exercise. While exercise produces endorphins, a great way to enhance the benefits is to do it in nature. Studies have shown that exercising outdoors leads to a greater increase in endorphins than exercising indoors. Exercise in beautiful places such as mountains, beaches, and forests. Hike to the top of a mountain, go for a sunrise or sunset jog on the beach, do yoga in the park or anything else your heart desires.

4. Helping Others

Contributing to the world is an amazing natural high. Volunteering or giving help to friends and family members in need can result in a sense of emotional and spiritual fulfillment that nothing else comes close to.

5. Meditation

Going deep within yourself through meditation can be a natural high if you do it right. It takes practice and dedication, but meditating is certainly one of the healthiest ways of getting spiritually high.

6. Music

There are many different ways to get high with music. Imagine how high rock stars get while playing with their band in front of a large audience. Amateurs that jam alone or with friends can also experience a high. Listening to music at home or walking with headphones on can produce an emotional high if you’re listening to songs that inspire you. Some people even get high by going out and singing karaoke with friends, or by singing alone in the shower.

7. Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong

These all have to do with breath, movement and calming of the mind. Qigong and tai chi are more flowing, while yoga focuses more on deep stretching. They can all get you physically and spiritually high, and I encourage everyone to try them at least once.

8. Achieving Goals

Setting big goals and accomplishing them can result in a mental and emotional high. Typically, the bigger goals result in longer and more intense highs, though not always. Some people even feel high when they make progress towards the accomplishment of their goals. The more compelling a goal is, the more emotional juice it will give you to go for it.

9. Holotropic Breathwork

The name Holotropic is composed of two Greek words: “holos” (whole) and “trepein” (moving in the direction of something). Therefore, we can describe Holotropic as “moving towards wholeness”. Holotropic Breathwork uses accelerated breathing and expressive music to initiate self-exploration and healing. Lying with your eyes closed on a mat, you can use music and your own breath to enter an altered state of consciousness that can produce a powerful natural high.

10. Horse Stance

In my opinion, this is the most powerful exercise in the world. Also, holding the Horse Stance position for over 30 seconds is more than just an awesome workout. Once you feel like giving up, it’s in the moment you use your mind to push past the physical intensity that your Inner Warrior comes out. Doing a few sets of Horse Stance can result in a physical and spiritual natural high that will leave you vibrating with the energy of a Spiritual Warrior.

11. Dancing

Many individuals love dancing more than anything else in life. Emotion comes from motion. The more you move around, the more emotion you are able to create. Dancing is expressive, full of motion, it’s a great form of exercise, and it can produce a natural high so powerful that it’s no wonder why people love it so much.

12. Prayer

Communicating with God (or whatever you wish to call it) is one of the most common ways people experience spiritual highs. Whether you’re praying, or even having a conversation with God, it’s this conscious contact with the True Source that lifts our spirits and strengthens our faith, which ultimately can lead to a deeply satisfying spiritual high.

13. Extreme Sports

Things like snowboarding, skydiving, mountain climbing and motocross jumping can pump your adrenaline sky high and provide you with an intense physical and mental high. This high is so strong that many individuals have become “adrenaline junkies”, who are always seeking bigger and bigger thrills to achieve this feeling.

14. Tantric Sex

This form of love-making can elevate the participants to a higher spiritual plane of existence. Rather than focusing on reaching orgasm, tantric sex involves slow movements, deep and slow breathing, eye contact, words of encouragement, and other meditative techniques for deepening the spiritual union between the participants. Tantric sex can activate the chakras and raise Kundalini energy, resulting in a most pleasurable high that is physical, spiritual, and emotional in nature.

15. Massage Therapy

The second best natural high I experienced in my life was after I received a 90-minute full body massage. My massage therapist used a technique called Rolfing Structural Integration, which involves working on a web-like network of connective tissues, called fascia, to release, balance and realign the body. I got off his table after the session was over, and upon standing I realized that I was experiencing an extraordinary physical high, which was the direct result of a massive release of endorphins, coupled with the fact that my body was restored to balance.

16. Foods, Beverages, and Supplements

Nutrition can totally get you high. Over the years I’ve found synergistic combinations of food, drinks, and supplements that can result in physical and mental highs. My favorite bliss elixir is as follows: tincture of ginseng root, reishi mushroom, valerian root and passion flower, mixed in a glass of water with maca root powder and a 500 mg capsule of DL-phenylalanine.

After I drink this beverage, I immediately consume a cup of yerba mate tea. This delicious cocktail is a mood enhancer, stimulant, muscle relaxer, adaptogen, endocrine booster, and qi, shen and jing tonic. The result is a mind-opening natural high that can be achieved in minutes without even leaving your kitchen.

What are some other natural ways to get high?

What is the best natural high you’ve ever experienced?